Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet

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If you're planning to buy a tablet but don't want to shell out for an iPad then Amazon's range of Fire devices has proved a decent alternative over the last few years.

The devices aren't particularly flashy and aren't bestowed with the latest specs - but they do a great job of delivering the basic entertainment package for a reasonable price.

So it is with the latest version of Fire HD tablets. The 10.1-inch variant is the one marked out for watching videos, gaming and flicking through digital magazines. It's 8-inch smaller brother is perhaps better suited to reading eBooks or perusing websites.

Design

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The Fire HD 10 remains pretty much unchanged from previous versions, which is no bad thing. It can't match the aesthetic or premium feeling of a high-end tablet like the iPad Pro, but it's not really trying to. It's a nice, slim piece of consumer tech with a soft-touch plastic back that comes in a choice of either Black, Marine Blue or Punch Red.

Bezels surround the 10.1-inch screen that has been updated to a full high definition (1,920 x 1,080) resolution. Screen sharpness and colour reproduction is on point, which is good because mostly you'll be using this device to consume video content.

Continuing the multimedia thrust, there's also Dolby Atmos Audio piped through a pair of dual stereo speakers. Amazon has also upped the performance by adding 2GB of RAM and making it 30% faster than the previous generation of Fire HD 10.

I've always thought that Amazon's tablets felt reassuringly solid and that's still the case here. The Fire HD 10 doesn't feel like it needs to be swaddled in cotton wool the minute you take it out of the box. It can certainly stand up to the knocks and bumps of family life.

Features

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Where the Amazon Fire HD 10 really shines is when you're interacting with Amazon's services - Prime Video, Prime Reading or shopping on the site. As ever, this is more a gateway to Amazon than anything and the Fire OS software is especially geared towards that.

You can swipe across homepages to quickly access your Prime Video account or collection of eBooks.

But it's the integration of Alexa that's the real star here. At any point you can just say "Alexa" to trigger the assistant and ask it to pull of a variety of features. If you've used the Amazon Echo smart speaker, you'll already be familiar with this.

For me it meant I could stand the Fire HD 10 up in the kitchen and bark orders at it to play TV episodes or resume podcasts while I was in the middle of doing the washing up. What's more, if you've got other "smart" products (like Philips Hue lights) you can use Alexa on the Fire HD 10 to control them.

There's also a new "For You" homepage that keeps track of your most recently used books, apps, games, etc and gives you recommendations based on your interests.

Importantly, there are also Parental Controls available right from the get-go which locks down the tablet so that the nippers can't start buying things or accessing internet smut. This is an often-overlooked feature that surely wins Amazon points with those of us considering one of these devices for a family environment.

Battery and storage

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There's a non-removable battery inside the Fire HD 10 with quoted battery life at up to 10 hours of mixed-use. This tallied with my own experience over the course of a Saturday - picking the tablet up occasionally to watch something in between asking Alexa to play me some music.

Storage comes in at either 32GB or 64GB which should be adequate. If not, there's the option to expand it with a microSD card.

Conclusion

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Weighing up whether or not to get the Amazon Fire HD 10 is a pretty simple proposition. If you're already a Prime customer and have access to the retailer's fleet of services, it's a no-brainer.

This isn't meant as a high-flying alternative to Apple's iPad Pro or Microsoft's Surface Pro 4, it's an entertainment device that won't break the bank.

Tablet aficionados may sneer at the relatively low resolution and lack of access to Google's suite of apps (Amazon runs its own, less well-stocked, app store) and they'd be right to do so. But those of us with families and tight budgets who aren't necessarily interested in all the bells and whistles of a £500+ device will find a lot to like here.

It's not a great leap over the last Fire HD 10 and, I would say, the only reason to really go for this tablet is the introduction of Alexa. Amazon's voice assistant continues to make great progress and having it hands-free on the Fire HD 10 is a big reason for adding this to your shopping cart.